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ACC Notebook - UNC, FSU familiar tournament foes

By Brett Friedlanderand Richard Walker

Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 12:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 12:11 a.m.

UNC and Florida State are no strangers to playing each other at the ACC tournament. Friday’s quarterfinal matchup was the seventh time the teams have met in the postseason and the fifth time in the past seven years.

The Tar Heels lead the overall tournament series 4-2, but have lost the past two games, including last year’s championship game, 85-82.

UNC also won both regular season games, prevailing 77-72 in Tallahassee on Jan. 12 and 79-58 in Chapel Hill on March 3.

TOURNEY IN THE BIG APPLE?

The rumor began floating around from the day Syracuse and Pittsburgh were announced as new members of the ACC last year. Friday, for the first time, a high-ranking league official acknowledged the probability that a future ACC tournament will be held in New York City.

Karl Hicks, the ACC’s associate commissioner for basketball operations, told a Raleigh television station that the event could be awarded to either Madison Square Garden or Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center as soon as 2016. Hicks told NBC affiliate WNCN-TV that the matter will be discussed at the next league meetings in April. He said a decision is likely to be made by May.

HOWELL PLAYS THROUGH INJURY

It’s something the ACC’s leading rebounder has done, literally, thousands of times in a game.

But on Friday, N.C. State’s Richard Howell got hit on his right thigh chasing a rebound late in the first half – and got hit again in the same spot chasing another rebound a few seconds later.

“I haven’t been in this much pain in a while,” Howell said after limping his way through much of the second half of the Wolfpack’s 75-56 win over Virginia. “But I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Howell said he’d go through treatment leading up to Saturday’s 1 p.m. game against top-seeded Miami in hopes of being at full strength.

“He’s a tough, tough guy and he played through about everything,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said of Howell. “I asked him a couple of times if he was OK and I knew he wasn’t but didn’t want to come out of the game because he battles like that.”

WOOD GOOD FROM LONG RANGE

N.C. State’s Scott Wood set a school ACC tournament record with seven 3-pointers in Friday’s quarterfinal win over Virginia. He also surpassed Rodney Monroe’s previous career school record of 322 3-pointers and now has 326.

“We thought there was a couple of stretches where Scott Wood took the game over,” Gottfried said. “You know … when the voting came our for our (All-ACC teams), I was shocked that Scott Wood’s name wasn’t on somebody’s first, second, third team or honorable mention. To me, that’s amazing.”

Wood’s sharpshooting also is an indicator of Wolfpack success, as it is 40-17 in games in which Wood converts at least three 3-pointers.

<p>UNC and Florida State are no strangers to playing each other at the ACC tournament. Friday's quarterfinal matchup was the seventh time the teams have met in the postseason and the fifth time in the past seven years. </p><p>The Tar Heels lead the overall tournament series 4-2, but have lost the past two games, including last year's championship game, 85-82.</p><p>UNC also won both regular season games, prevailing 77-72 in Tallahassee on Jan. 12 and 79-58 in Chapel Hill on March 3. </p><p><b>TOURNEY IN THE BIG APPLE?</b></p><p>The rumor began floating around from the day Syracuse and Pittsburgh were announced as new members of the ACC last year. Friday, for the first time, a high-ranking league official acknowledged the probability that a future ACC tournament will be held in New York City.</p><p>Karl Hicks, the ACC's associate commissioner for basketball operations, told a Raleigh television station that the event could be awarded to either Madison Square Garden or Brooklyn's Barclay's Center as soon as 2016. Hicks told NBC affiliate WNCN-TV that the matter will be discussed at the next league meetings in April. He said a decision is likely to be made by May.</p><p><b>HOWELL PLAYS THROUGH INJURY</b></p><p>It's something the ACC's leading rebounder has done, literally, thousands of times in a game.</p><p>But on Friday, N.C. State's Richard Howell got hit on his right thigh chasing a rebound late in the first half – and got hit again in the same spot chasing another rebound a few seconds later.</p><p>“I haven't been in this much pain in a while,” Howell said after limping his way through much of the second half of the Wolfpack's 75-56 win over Virginia. “But I'll be ready tomorrow.”</p><p>Howell said he'd go through treatment leading up to Saturday's 1 p.m. game against top-seeded Miami in hopes of being at full strength. </p><p>“He's a tough, tough guy and he played through about everything,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said of Howell. “I asked him a couple of times if he was OK and I knew he wasn't but didn't want to come out of the game because he battles like that.”</p><p><b>WOOD GOOD FROM LONG RANGE</b></p><p>N.C. State's Scott Wood set a school ACC tournament record with seven 3-pointers in Friday's quarterfinal win over Virginia. He also surpassed Rodney Monroe's previous career school record of 322 3-pointers and now has 326.</p><p>“We thought there was a couple of stretches where Scott Wood took the game over,” Gottfried said. “You know … when the voting came our for our (All-ACC teams), I was shocked that Scott Wood's name wasn't on somebody's first, second, third team or honorable mention. To me, that's amazing.”</p><p>Wood's sharpshooting also is an indicator of Wolfpack success, as it is 40-17 in games in which Wood converts at least three 3-pointers.</p>